Book Review – ‘Before Her Eyes’ by Jack Jordan ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Naomi Hannah has been blind since birth. Struggling with living in a small, claustrophobic town, Naomi contemplates ending her life. But then she stumbles across the body of a young woman who has been brutally murdered. She senses someone else there at the scene – watching her. Naomi may not be able to see the killer’s face, but she is the only person who can identify him.

As the police begin hunting the person responsible and more victims are discovered, Naomi is forced to answer the question on which her fate hangs: why did the killer let her live?

In a town this small, the murderer must be close, perhaps even before her eyes….

This superb book had me hooked from the first pages and didn’t let me go until the final sentence. I loved the decision to make the main character blind. I feel it was an inspired choice but also one that no doubt presented more challenges for the author as it meant that the he had to think and write in an even more descriptive and totally different way. I found these elements, along with how we get to experience the world in a way that most of us will never know first hand, and the opportunity to gain more understanding of the trials of life without vision, really interesting. The sense of fear in the story was also highlighted by Naomi’s blindness as the perpetual darkness she lives in added terror and anxiety that would have otherwise been missing in situations that wouldn’t have had those aspects or mystery if she’d been able to see. The author certainly more than rose to the challenge he had set himself and ensured that this book is unforgettable for that aspect alone.

Knowing that the killer was able to recognise who had witnessed them at the scene of their crime and stalk them without Naomi being able to prove they’re even there was frustrating as a reader and made me even more eager for the killer to be revealed and punished so that Naomi could be safe and vindicated in her claims as she wasn’t always believed. The sense of loneliness and dread as she slowly found herself unable to trust anyone and became more isolated and alone was palpable and made it impossible to stop reading. I just needed to know she was safe and find out who was so cruel as to be doing this to an already vulnerable woman.

This book was so brilliantly written that I couldn’t decide who was telling the truth, who the culprit was and what would happen next. I had suspicions of course but it certainly wasn’t a book where you sit and think “oh that’s so obvious he’s the killer”. I don’t want to say much more as this book is one where if you give detail you risk giving away the story but I will say that the ending gave me chills and I could only sit there in amazement and reread it in shock.

This will not be me last read by Jack Jordan. Before Her Eyes is a sensational psychological thriller and he is a talent to be watched.